Laune Rangers secured the Central Region Under 14 Division One title on Bank Holiday Monday evening, following victory over Ardfert in a hard-fought Final in Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

Laune Rangers got off to the ideal start, and were ahead by 2-3 to 0-0 following early points from Callum Russell (2, 1 free) & Mikey O’Donnell, with O’Donnell and Adam Owens netting the goals – Mikey applying a cool finish following a great run & Adam palming the ball to the net after a great move on the right flank. Ardfert responded very well and scored 1-2 unanswered themselves to leave Laune Rangers leading by 2-3 to 1-2 with a quarter played.

Ardfert, with the benefit of the breeze behind them, were on the ascendancy but the Rangers full back line of James Byrne, Patrick Brennan and Cathal Crowley held off the pressure with their half backs in support. Adam Owens slotted a nice point for Rangers before Ardfert responded with two of their own to leave a goal between the sides at the break. Half Time Score:- Laune Rangers 2-4, Ardfert 1-4.

Laune Rangers began the second half excellently, and scored an unanswered 2-5 in 12 minutes after the restart. Mikey O’Donnell scored his second goal on the first play of the half, with points following from Calum Moriarty, Callum Russell, Adam Owens. Ryan Diggin scored Rangers’ 4th goal with a scorching finish to the roof of the net while Eoghan Hassett and Adam Owens added points before Ardfert finally broke the run of scores against them with a pointed free. With a quarter to play, Laune Rangers led by 4-9 to 1-5.

Rangers points from Adam Owens and Eoghan Hassett (free) extended Rangers lead to 15 points, as the Killorglin side continued to introduce replacements. This inevitably led to a reduction in fluidity and allowed Ardfert to pull a couple of goals back. Points were added in the final stages by Eoghan Hassett and Darragh O’Grady, while Ardfert added another goal and two points to their total. The final whistle was blown to see Laune Rangers pick up a title that has eluded them in recent years, having lost two Central U14 Division 1 Finals in recent memory. Full Time Score:- Laune Rangers 4-13, Ardfert 4-7.

Laune Rangers wealth of attacking options saw some excellent replacements introduced at Half Time and into the Second Half. Defenders Cathal Crowley and James Byrne read the game well to hold off Ardfert at a time when they were under pressure, while Ciarán O’Sullivan was introduced in the first half and wasted no time in settling into the game to help out his full back line. Callum Moriarty played a captain’s role and was always looking for the ball to both clear his lines and attack. However, the stand out player on the evening was Mikey O’Donnell who covered a lot of ground and scored 2-1 from wing forward – an excellent return considering the ‘one hop, one solo’ rule that is in place at this level.